Which is to say Gadawski – with his South Bend Burger and leprechaun statue – is the biggest Polish fan of the Irish in this Italian city.

Neumeister is a veteran of the yearly bus trips Gadawski leads to Notre Dame Stadium, or as Gadawski sees it, the Promised Land.

The caravans were chronicled in the 2005 book “Touchdown Jesus,” billed as a chronicle of “faith and fandom at Notre Dame.”

“It is possible that, outside one or two local establishments in South Bend, Gadawski’s is, on a national scale, the ne plus ultra of Notre Dame bars,” author Scott Eden wrote.

For proof, look no further than Gadawski’s namesake tavern, which sits on Falls Street near the Seneca Niagara Casino in downtown Niagara Falls. From the outside, it appears to be the last outpost in a vast expanse of boarded up buildings owned by a Manhattan billionaire, a green island in a gray stretch of blighted downtown land.

But inside hangs a cornucopia of Notre Dame banners, license plates, bumper stickers, trading cards and ticket stubs, all pulled together by an uninterrupted stream of Fighting Irish wallpaper.

“To catalog every cameo in the bar would tax the abilities of the librarian of Congress,” Eden said.

There’s the autographed photograph of the late Angelo Bertelli, the Irish’s first Heisman trophy winner as the nation’s top player. He was Gadawski’s friend.

Take note of the two footballs behind the bar, one signed by all seven Heisman winners and another by current Irish leader Brian Kelly, the nation’s coach of the year.

Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, the inspirational walk-on player who was the subject of the 1993 film “Rudy” – he’s been here, too.

“Everybody that drives through stops here, from every state,” said friend Tom Witkowski.

If some consider Gadawski’s a museum of sorts, it may bear more likeness to Notre Dame Stadium Monday night.

The Irish take on Alabama at 8:30 p.m. in a classic matchup that has stoked the passions of fans from both storied programs.

And Gadawski expects hundreds of fans to stream into his place to watch the game on his new super-sized projector screen.

“It’s going to be like heck,” he said last week. “I’m going to be right here with a beer and a shot in my hand.”

Joining Gadawski will be his regular “crew,” a ragtag group of friends who meet each Thursday to talk football and Notre Dame.

One person who won’t be there is Gadawski’s son, Fred, who shelled out $1,200 to make the trip to Miami. He still gets teary-eyed when talking of the day his daughter got accepted to Notre Dame.

After nearly a quarter-century without a title, Fred Gadawski said fans like him are thirsting for a championship.

But for good reason, he worries about leaving his father – and the rowdy Notre Dame crew – to their own devices.

“[I’ll] go crazy,” Eddie Gadawski said. “I don’t think we’ll close the day before or the day after.”